Trial shifts focus to Dunn's alibi
Story date: April 27, 2010
Accused’s family testifies; jury left to reconcile investigator’s, medical examiner’s testimony
By Mary Kincy
managingeditor@couriernews.com
CLARKSVILLE — A recorded jailhouse call gave voice to Gary Dunn’s 2008 threats to file defamation and slander lawsuits against those who released information alleging his involvement in the 2005 death of Nona Dirksmeyer here during his capital murder trial.
The recording, played after Dunn’s defense argued special prosecutors “opened the door” by taking a separate statement Dunn made “woefully out of context” during their opening argument, was largely unintelligible in the area where spectators are permitted to observe court proceedings, but Dunn could be heard at one point telling his mother, “... if they already had everything they said, three years ago I would have been convicted ...” In context, defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig called the statement a “protestation of innocence.”
The recording, which was redacted to exclude information about Dunn’s prior convictions, came during Martha Dunn’s halting testimony.
The mother, who has battled cancer since before her son’s August 2008 arrest, was declared a hostile witness Monday after she twice denied ever asking Dunn, 30, to promise he was not involved in Dirksmeyer’s death. Opposing attorneys are allowed to ask hostile witnesses leading questions, an interrogation technique normally reserved for cross-examination.
Prosecutor Jack McQuary read a portion of a statement Martha Dunn, clad Monday in jeans and a gray sweatshirt, gave to police the same month her son was arrested.
“You know, I do remember that I came right out and asked Gary, ‘Did you have anything to do with that young lady?’ — do you know — and (he) said, ‘No ma’am, I did not hurt that young lady in any way and I did not know her that well’” (sic), McQuary quoted.
The attorney questioned why Martha Dunn, who testified her son spent the day of the murder sick on her couch, interrogated him after telling police they were together most of the day.
“You still felt you needed to ask him and have him swear to you he didn’t have anything to do with this girl’s death?” McQuary asked.
It was not the first time prosecutors called Dunn’s alibi into question, and later testimony from the accused’s sister-in-law, Summer Dunn, offered another opportunity for the state to undercut his family’s claims he spent the majority of the day at their home in Dover.
Summer Dunn told investigators in late August 2008 she recalled the day Dunn was sick at the home, but wasn’t sure if it was the day of the murder, Dec. 15, 2005, or the next day. Dirksmeyer was killed sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., prior testimony has established.
On the witness stand, however, Summer Dunn said she was now certain the date was Dec. 15.
“How are you sure about that?” McQuary asked. “I just am,” she said.
In contrast to his family’s statements he was ill that day, Dunn told investigators he painted interior walls at his mother’s house the day of Dirksmeyer’s death. But each of Dunn’s family members called to testify Monday — including Martha Dunn; Summer Dunn; his brother, Jamie Dunn; and his stepfather, Preston Chenoweth — said the painting was done primarily by others.
Family members also offered disparate accounts of a purchase made at Lowe’s home improvement store the day of the murder. Dunn told a state police investigator he and his mother went to the store sometime around 11 a.m. to buy painting supplies. But other than Martha Dunn, no one else recalled the trip, and the only receipt produced by the family, time-stamped 1:24 p.m., was for an expensive piece of carpentry equipment Jamie Dunn testified he purchased using cash.
Defense attorneys scored points earlier in the day, however, when state police investigator Bill Glover testified Dunn said he was left-handed — and used his left hand to sign a statement — during an interview Dec. 29, 2005.
At least 10 of 15 jurors, including three alternates, scribbled in notepads provided by the court after the revelation, proffered only days after state Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Kokes testified cuts and stab wounds on Dirksmeyer’s neck and shoulder indicated a right-handed attacker.
Dunn denied any relationship with Dirksmeyer during the interview, Glover testified, and said he did not know her.
“He said he had seen her a couple of times, that they lived at the same apartment complex,” Glover said.
Dirksmeyer’s boyfriend, Kevin Jones, along with his mother and a friend, discovered her nude, lifeless body inside her South Inglewood Avenue apartment complex, the same complex where Dunn lived with his wife, Jennifer, and her two children.
Russellville police investigated Jones and Dunn in the wake of the brutal homicide, but Dunn had what appeared to be a strong alibi and, his stepfather claimed in 2008, passed a lie detector test.
Jones eventually was charged with the first-degree murder of the 19-year-old Miss Petit Jean Valley, but won acquittal in July 2007.
Dunn’s arrest came after an expert hired by the Jones family matched DNA found on a condom wrapper at the scene to a known profile of Dunn provided to them by Deputy Dover Marshal Todd Steffy. Dunn’s attorneys contend the state’s assertion there is only a 1 in 120 million chance the DNA is someone other than Dunn’s is vastly inflated, but prosecutors, although they have not yet offered a narrative for how they believe the murder was carried out, say it places him at the crime scene.
Proceedings continue at 8:30 a.m. today, when Stacie Rhoads, a special agent for the Arkansas State Police, is expected to testify regarding the investigation that led to Dunn’s arrest.
The Associated Press contributed information to this report.
Story date: April 27, 2010
Accused’s family testifies; jury left to reconcile investigator’s, medical examiner’s testimony
By Mary Kincy
managingeditor@couriernews.com
CLARKSVILLE — A recorded jailhouse call gave voice to Gary Dunn’s 2008 threats to file defamation and slander lawsuits against those who released information alleging his involvement in the 2005 death of Nona Dirksmeyer here during his capital murder trial.
The recording, played after Dunn’s defense argued special prosecutors “opened the door” by taking a separate statement Dunn made “woefully out of context” during their opening argument, was largely unintelligible in the area where spectators are permitted to observe court proceedings, but Dunn could be heard at one point telling his mother, “... if they already had everything they said, three years ago I would have been convicted ...” In context, defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig called the statement a “protestation of innocence.”
The recording, which was redacted to exclude information about Dunn’s prior convictions, came during Martha Dunn’s halting testimony.
The mother, who has battled cancer since before her son’s August 2008 arrest, was declared a hostile witness Monday after she twice denied ever asking Dunn, 30, to promise he was not involved in Dirksmeyer’s death. Opposing attorneys are allowed to ask hostile witnesses leading questions, an interrogation technique normally reserved for cross-examination.
Prosecutor Jack McQuary read a portion of a statement Martha Dunn, clad Monday in jeans and a gray sweatshirt, gave to police the same month her son was arrested.
“You know, I do remember that I came right out and asked Gary, ‘Did you have anything to do with that young lady?’ — do you know — and (he) said, ‘No ma’am, I did not hurt that young lady in any way and I did not know her that well’” (sic), McQuary quoted.
The attorney questioned why Martha Dunn, who testified her son spent the day of the murder sick on her couch, interrogated him after telling police they were together most of the day.
“You still felt you needed to ask him and have him swear to you he didn’t have anything to do with this girl’s death?” McQuary asked.
It was not the first time prosecutors called Dunn’s alibi into question, and later testimony from the accused’s sister-in-law, Summer Dunn, offered another opportunity for the state to undercut his family’s claims he spent the majority of the day at their home in Dover.
Summer Dunn told investigators in late August 2008 she recalled the day Dunn was sick at the home, but wasn’t sure if it was the day of the murder, Dec. 15, 2005, or the next day. Dirksmeyer was killed sometime between 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., prior testimony has established.
On the witness stand, however, Summer Dunn said she was now certain the date was Dec. 15.
“How are you sure about that?” McQuary asked. “I just am,” she said.
In contrast to his family’s statements he was ill that day, Dunn told investigators he painted interior walls at his mother’s house the day of Dirksmeyer’s death. But each of Dunn’s family members called to testify Monday — including Martha Dunn; Summer Dunn; his brother, Jamie Dunn; and his stepfather, Preston Chenoweth — said the painting was done primarily by others.
Family members also offered disparate accounts of a purchase made at Lowe’s home improvement store the day of the murder. Dunn told a state police investigator he and his mother went to the store sometime around 11 a.m. to buy painting supplies. But other than Martha Dunn, no one else recalled the trip, and the only receipt produced by the family, time-stamped 1:24 p.m., was for an expensive piece of carpentry equipment Jamie Dunn testified he purchased using cash.
Defense attorneys scored points earlier in the day, however, when state police investigator Bill Glover testified Dunn said he was left-handed — and used his left hand to sign a statement — during an interview Dec. 29, 2005.
At least 10 of 15 jurors, including three alternates, scribbled in notepads provided by the court after the revelation, proffered only days after state Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Kokes testified cuts and stab wounds on Dirksmeyer’s neck and shoulder indicated a right-handed attacker.
Dunn denied any relationship with Dirksmeyer during the interview, Glover testified, and said he did not know her.
“He said he had seen her a couple of times, that they lived at the same apartment complex,” Glover said.
Dirksmeyer’s boyfriend, Kevin Jones, along with his mother and a friend, discovered her nude, lifeless body inside her South Inglewood Avenue apartment complex, the same complex where Dunn lived with his wife, Jennifer, and her two children.
Russellville police investigated Jones and Dunn in the wake of the brutal homicide, but Dunn had what appeared to be a strong alibi and, his stepfather claimed in 2008, passed a lie detector test.
Jones eventually was charged with the first-degree murder of the 19-year-old Miss Petit Jean Valley, but won acquittal in July 2007.
Dunn’s arrest came after an expert hired by the Jones family matched DNA found on a condom wrapper at the scene to a known profile of Dunn provided to them by Deputy Dover Marshal Todd Steffy. Dunn’s attorneys contend the state’s assertion there is only a 1 in 120 million chance the DNA is someone other than Dunn’s is vastly inflated, but prosecutors, although they have not yet offered a narrative for how they believe the murder was carried out, say it places him at the crime scene.
Proceedings continue at 8:30 a.m. today, when Stacie Rhoads, a special agent for the Arkansas State Police, is expected to testify regarding the investigation that led to Dunn’s arrest.
The Associated Press contributed information to this report.
